"Throwing Up With Obedience"

I woke up at 3:00 this morning to the heaving sounds of my precious 3 year old Jacob. He had crawled into the bed with us around 2:00 a.m. I jumped up and grabbed the closest pillow case to catch the forthcoming gift. He held his little hands over his mouth and refused to release what was soon out of his control. After offering him what we affectionately call the "throw-up bowl" that stays tucked away in our closet, he gave into his little body. I asked him why he was holding it in and he said, "I no want to make a mess in your bed mommy." After his initial sickness was over I offered him some Pepsi. He said, "Daddy said me no have Pepsi." "Jacob, I'm sure it will be ok since you are sick." "I no drink it Mommy, Daddy said me no have Pepsi." "When did Daddy say that?" "Last night." I quickly realized it was pointless to argue with an obedient, sick three year old. If Daddy said No, then No it is. So, I fixed him coke and that was that. "Daddy no said no to coke." When Matt came home for lunch he came to check on Jacob and I filled him in on Jacob's absolute obedience. Matt thanked him for being so obedient, but told him that it would have been ok since he was sick. I was blessed beyond measure at his obedience even in the midst of sickness. If you have followed my blog very long, you know that we have had a few struggles with Jacob's obedience. We have spent a lot of time and energy praying over this precious little boy and what a blessing to see his desire for obedience increasing. Don't get me wrong, I am a realist and I know there are still times to come when Jacob will struggle to do the right thing, but oh how blessed my heart was today to hear that sweet little voice making right choices. My continued prayer for Jacob is that he would continue to seek obedience, righteousness and seek a relationship with the Lord Jesus. I have been following Christ for 32 years and I still struggle with complete obedience from time to time. When I am not feeling well, when I let my guard down or I haven't been saturated in God's Word the temptation to lash out in anger, to tolerate or even participate in gossip, to indulge slander and not be repulsed by sin, becomes harder to resist. We as believers are to grieve over sin, not tolerate or participate in it. If sin grieves the heart of God, which it does, then we too should be grieved by it. I want to have the heart for obedience that my precious little three year old has, but it has not just appeared. It was born out of prayer, instruction, rebuke and discipline. As believers in the Lord Jesus we need to spend time in prayer, we need to receive the instruction from His word. We need to accept the rebuke of other believers and we need to graciously receive the discipline of our Father when we have sinned against Him. I desire to be characterized by obedience. I want to make my Father proud by obeying Him even in the midst of trials and sickness. I want obedience to be that deeply rooted within my heart. I have prayed this for my children and I will continue to pray this for them, but I also pray it for myself and for you as we learn to obey the Father.